South Australia

With the unfriendly weather still chasing us, we headed for the SA border. Our visit to the Head of the Bight was rewarded by a prolonged close encounter with a southern right whale and her calf (photo). There were several offshore, but this pair came in so close that we didn't need binoculars to see them clearly - impressive stuff indeed and very humbling. However, it was disappointing to have to pay $12 each to pass through a building and get to the top of the cliff to see the whales in the first place. Enough said about that, as the expereince was priceless.
As we headed towards Eyre Peninsula, and moved away from the coast, we decided to follow the Navigator (our GPS) and head to the coast along some very obscure tracks. After some false starts (and finishes - with one track ending at a barbed wire fence with a paddock on the other side - confused the Navigator too), we finally came out on a lovely little beach - Cheetima Beach - on Cape Adieu (sorry Kath - another one for the atlas - try west of Fowlers Bay) (photo). We spent a very pleasant evening there with a very much appreciated fire to keep us warm, against the cold, wind and very bleak weather coming off the southern ocean. There was a family from Ceduna there who have been going there for years. They were amazed that a couple of travellers from Qld found their secret spot.We would have stayed there longer if the weather had been friendlier, but as it wasn't we moved on.
Because of the weather we weren't going to visit Streaky Bay, but Ric does love oysters and SB is famous for them, so off we went.   The only caravan park was on the water front and copping the worst of the wind and rain, so for the first time since leaving home we slept under a roof with four solid walls - we hired a cabin for the night. We really liked the area, in spite of the weather conditions.  (photo).It must be very beautiful in fine weather. We even checked out some of the real estate in the area - prices were quite reasonable in comparison with some places we have seen. Don't get too excited, we haven't found anywhere better than home yet!!!
As the weather was not improving, we decided to head directly east and leave the SA peninsulas for another time. We found a lovely free camp on the shores of Lake Gilles in the Conservation Park there. (west of Whyalla, Kath). (photo) It is a salt lake which actually has water in it at the moment. So we had a camp fire again - always a lovely treat on a cool/cold night.
After stocking up on supplies in Port Augusta, we deliberated as to which way to go - up through the centre via Innamincka, over through north-west NSW via Broken Hill, or directly to the coast via the alps. In the end the coast won out and we headed east. We had another lovely overnight free camp at Burra Creek Gorge with a little stream and another camp fire night. (Between Pt Augusta & Renmark, Kath - from now on it should be easy) .
This was our last stop in SA.

As you can see from the photos, the weather has not been the best. Not the fault of the camera RobnRose. We have a Canon Power Shot SX10IS with a 20x optical zoom, which has been doing a great job for us.